Reminder about SB 850: Domicile Unknown
Senate Bill 850 goes into effect on January 1, 2022. This means that death records for individuals who were homeless at the time of death must list “Domicile Unknown” in the Street Name field on the Resident Address page in OVERS. This includes decedents who were homeless but receiving care at a hospital or other institution. See November’s newsletter for more details about recording Domicile Unknown in OVERS.
For questions about registering death records for homeless decedents, email CHS.Registration@dhsoha.state.or.us.
HB 2120 & Increase of Death Filing Fee for 2022
The Oregon Mortuary and Cemetery Board (OMCB) shared the following information with CHS regarding House Bill 2120 and increased fees for 2022. This fee is paid directly to the OMCB. It is not a Vital Records fee.
HB 2120 was signed by Governor Brown on June 23, 2021 and becomes effective on January 1, 2022. This bill will increase the death filing fee from $20 to $30. The additional $10 will be allocated entirely to the Indigent Disposition Program (IDP) Fund, which will ensure that the IDP Fund remains sustainable at least through 2026. Additionally, the Board will continue to review the financial condition of the IDP Fund on a regular basis and make appropriate adjustments/recommendations, if necessary.
Therefore, all licensed facilities who make arrangements and collect the $20 death filing fee will need to begin collecting the $30 death filing fee beginning January 1, 2022.
For those who are unaware, the purpose of the IDP Fund is to provide funeral establishments and immediate disposition companies with reimbursement for costs incurred while providing services for the disposition of indigent decedents. The IDP Fund has been in existence since the Oregon State Legislature assigned responsibility for reimbursement to the Health Division in 1993. Prior to that legislation, the applicable county was responsible for the costs associated with an indigent’s disposition – according to ORS 146, in certain circumstances, counties are still responsible for paying the expenses of unclaimed decedents. In 2015, the Oregon Legislature reworked the requirements of the program, moving management to the Oregon Mortuary & Cemetery Board (OMCB) and amending the required process that a funeral establishment or immediate disposition company must complete before cremating or burying an indigent decedent. These changes went into effect on January 1, 2016.
As a reminder, ORS 97.170(1) defines “Indigent person” as:
… a deceased person who does not have a death or final expense benefit or insurance policy that pays for disposition of the deceased person’s body or other means to pay for disposition of the deceased person’s body and:
(a) Who does not have a relative or other person with the legal right to direct and the means to pay for disposition of the deceased person’s body;
(b) Whose relative, or other person, with the legal right to direct the disposition of the deceased person’s body does not pay or arrange to pay for, or refuses to direct, the disposition of the deceased person’s body within 10 days of being notified of the death;
or
(c) For whom no person other than a person described in paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection wishes to direct and pay for the disposition of the deceased person’s body.
|
